In This Moment
by AmandaMarieJohnson333
Summary: I was devastated that Eclare lost their baby so this story is about them having their baby & living happily ever after - like Eclare should have in the finale!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Clare looked at herself in the mirror. Her once fairly thin frame was now stretched, round and swollen; she was almost nine months pregnant. As she smiled slightly and rubbed her belly, Eli walked into the room.

"Hey, beautiful. Whatcha doin?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to the full length mirror in their room.

"Nothing, just...watching" she said, still entranced in the mirror. "I can't wait to see what he looks like. Do you think he'll look like me or you?" Eli stood up, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms, as well as he could, around her belly, putting his hands over hers.

"I think he's gonna be the best of both of us" he told her and she smiled.

"I hope he has your green eyes" she smiled, leaning back on him to steady her wobbly self a little. "And I hope he has your passion for film making." Eli smiled back at her.

"I hope he has your determination, your amazing smile…I hope he has your strength and will to succeed" he told her, kissing her cheek gently. Clare turned around to face him, resting her hands on his chest.

"And I hope he never gives up on the person he loves…like you've never given up on us"

"Never" Eli said and they both smiled, remembering the first time he told her that.

"I can't believe we're gonna meet him in two short weeks, maybe less" Clare said.

"Are you nervous?" Eli asked.

"A little…but more excited" Clare said and Eli smiled lovingly at her.

"Me too." As she leaned up to kiss his lips there was a knock on the door. She broke the kiss and walked around the bed and out of the bedroom to answer the door. She smiled when she saw her best friend standing there with what looked like 10 books in her arms.

"What's this?" she asked, amused as Alli walked, or rather stumbled into Clare and Eli's apartment.

"Well…" Alli said, putting the books on the kitchen table with Eli's help. "Since baby Goldsworthy is due to arrive any day and you still haven't settled on a name, I'm here to help." She sat down at the table and Clare took Eli's hand to help her sit down as well.

"Alli…" Clare said, hesitant. For some reason she was avoiding this issue.

"Come on, Clare. Your son is gonna be here very soon and he has to have a name" Alli said.

"I know that" Clare said. "And we'll give him one. I just…" she hesitated again, glancing at Eli and then back down at the table.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked, sitting next to her.

"I'm just…having trouble letting go of the name Drew and I chose when we thought it was…" she trailed off, fearing she'd upset Eli. She didn't make eye contact with him, just continued to stare at the table, fiddling with her thumbs. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Eli asked. Clare still didn't look at him. Eli got up, walking to the other side of Clare and knelt where he could see her face. "Sorry that you want to name our son Adam? Don't be. Clare, he was my best friend and I would be honored to name my son after him." He gently lifted her chin to where they were making eye contact.

"I would too" Clare half whispered, smiling slightly. "I just…with everything that happened with Drew, I don't know if it'd be…I just don't want to upset him. I don't wanna upset anyone. I've done enough of that this year."

"Well…why don't we give our son Adam as a middle name?" Eli suggested. "He still needs a first name though" he smiled at his girlfriend and she smiled back, looking almost relieved and surprised that Eli had suggested that.

"That's where all these books come in!" Alli said happily, opening one of them. "Hmmm, I don't think Alfred is a good choice" she joked. "How about…Lance?"

"Next" Clare said, reaching into her bag of beef jerky and eating some. Eli smirked at her, ever since she got pregnant Clare ate when she was anxious, nervous, happy or sad. He had bought a lot of beef jerky over the past few months.

"Brandt?" Alli asked and Clare crinkled her nose.

"Why not just name our son Corby, or Daxton" she joked.

"Hmm, Daxton…?" Eli thought jokingly.

"I think not" Clare chuckled.

"Fine, you look and pick one you like" Alli said, handing the book to her friend. Clare flipped page by page looking at the names and crinkled her nose again.

"None of these seem right" Clare complained. "All of this is giving me a stress headache. What if we don't decide on a name and the baby's born and he just never has a name?"

"Okay…" Eli intervened. "Why don't we just put this on ice for a bit and you go rest for a while?" He took her by the elbow to help her out of the chair and she stood up, cradling her back as she did so.

"Fine…I'm tired anyway" Clare said. "Can I call you later, Al?"

"Of course you can, sweetie. Go rest" Alli said, giving Clare a hug and kiss on the cheek and grabbed her purse. "I'll see you two later." She smiled and let herself out. Eli looked over to Clare who closed her eyes breathing deeply.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, just tired" Clare said.

"Okay, well let me walk you to bed" Eli told her.

"I'll be fine, Eli" Clare said sweetly and kissed him. "Go, have some Eli time while you still can."

"Where am I supposed to go when the only place I wanna be is here with you?" Eli asked.

"I don't know. Go get some coffee, take a walk, go see Imogen. You have to stop worrying about me so much" Clare told him.

"Never gonna happen, but I will go get some coffee. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Eli asked and she cupped his face with her hands and kissed him.

"Yes, now go" she said and he kissed her again.

"I love you" he smiled at her.

"I love you" she smiled back and headed toward their bedroom. Eli grabbed his jacket and left the house. Clare waddled slowly to their bedroom and laid down, getting as comfortable as she could being nine months pregnant.

Eli walked into the Dot where Imogen was sitting with a cup of coffee and her laptop. He walked over to her and sat down.

"Eli Goldsworthy, haven't seen you in these parts lately. How are you and Mama Clare?" Imogen asked, smiling at the sight of her friend.

"She's good, big, but good, really tired" Eli smiled back. "She's resting so I thought I'd give her some peace and quiet and come get some coffee. What are you up to?"

"Looking for a job" Imogen said and Eli chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing, I just…have never seen you…you know, job" Eli said. "I thought your mom was this rich doctor or something."

"Yeah and I have graduated high school. If I enroll in college full time my mom said she'd help me, but if not…job" Imogen said.

"So you're not going to college?" Eli asked.

"I don't see you registering at TU after leaving New York" Imogen told him.

"I'm gonna be a father" Eli told her.

"Oh yeah, that's just everyone's excuse" Imogen said and they smiled. Just then Eli's cell began to ring and he saw that it was Clare.

"Hey, I thought you were resting" Eli smiled, answering his phone.

"Eli…I need your help, now" Clare said, her voice sounded stressed and Eli immediately jumped up, hanging up the phone.

"I gotta go, Clare needs me" Eli said, starting to get a little panicked.

"Is everything okay?" Imogen asked.

"I don't know. She could be in labor, I have to go" Eli said and rushed out of the Dot.

Eli screeched the breaks, stopping the car in front of his and Clare's apartment and jumped out, leaving the car running as he ran into the apartment.

"Clare? Clare!? Where are you? Are you okay?" Eli yelled, looking franticly for his pregnant girlfriend.

"In here" Clare called from the bedroom. Her voice still seemed stressed. This had to be it, she was in labor. Eli ran into their bedroom, looking around, but couldn't see Clare anywhere.

"Clare?"

"Uh…over here" Clare called. Eli walked closer to their bed and found Clare between the bed and the wall.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" he asked, moving closer to her.

"Yeah, uh…I'm stuck" Clare said, her face turning a little red. Eli breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, then began to chuckle a little bit. "I'm glad you think this is so funny, Eli" Clare said, getting annoyed.

"No, it's just…" Eli began while moving the bed and helping Clare to her feet. "I thought something was wrong. I thought you were in labor or something was wrong with the baby."

"Something _was_ wrong. I've been stuck here since you left" Clare said and couldn't help but smile seeing the amusement on Eli's face. "It isn't funny" she pouted. "I'm so big I couldn't even get myself out of a…tight situation."

"How did that even happen?" Eli asked, still couldn't help smiling at her.

"Well, I was trying to rest, like you suggested. I was trying to get comfortable and I just…slipped" Clare told him.

"Between a wall and a…bed place?" Eli said, trying to make light of the situation to make Clare feel better.

"Eli" Clare scolded, but couldn't help a chuckle. "I'm so done being pregnant. When is this baby gonna decide to be born?"

"When he's ready" Eli smiled, kissing her forehead.

"Well, I'm ready now. I'm ready to meet our son, to start our lives together. And I'm definitely ready to get my body back" Clare said.

"It's gonna happen, just be a little patient. Come on, lay on the couch with me and I'll rub your feet" Eli said and Clare's face perked up a little, she loved when Eli rubbed her feet, especially now that they were so sore.

"Now how can I possibly say no to that?" Clare asked and he kissed her lips and led her to the living room. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Of course. I love you too" Eli said and Clare smiled at him again.

"Forever and always" she said as they sat down together and Eli began to rub her feet.

OKAY, I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FAN FICTION IN A LONG TIME GUYS. I'VE NEVER WRITTEN ECLARE FAN FICTION SO I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THE FIRST CHAPTER AND COME BACK FOR THE NEXT ONE. THANKS FOR READING!

PS; If you ship Eclare like I do pls follow my twitter, eclarefan4life3


	2. Chapter 2

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE, I'M SUPER BUSY. HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER THOUGH – ENJOY AND PLEASE R/R!

Chapter Two

Eli opened his eyes after he felt Clare move for the 10th time. She had been tossing and turning for the past fifteen minutes.

"Are you okay, babe?" he asked, turning to face her.

"I just can't get comfortable" Clare complained. "You know, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in the past six months. I can't wait to be able to sleep on my stomach again." Eli smiled at his very pregnant girlfriend.

"It'll all be over soon" he assured her.

"Not soon enough for me" Clare said. "My due date is in 10 days, but the doctor said I could easily be a week late."

"Well, look on the bright side, it'll give us time to come up with a first name" Eli said. "Have you thought any more about that?"

"I've thought about it. I haven't come up with anything" Clare said. She looked over at the clock and it read 3:45am and she groaned. "This is ridiculous." She sat up and worked herself out of bed and Eli sat up as well.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she made her way to the hallway.

"First I'm going to pee and then I'm getting something to eat. I'm hungry, as always" Clare said.

"Okay, go to the bathroom and I'll fix you something to eat" Eli told her. "What do you feel like?"

"A cow" Clare joked and Eli smiled. "I don't know, surprise me."

"I can do that" Eli said and Clare went into the bathroom and shut the door. Eli went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to figure out what he was going to make. After looking around the fridge he opened the freezer. "What about some potato skins?" he called to her.

"Sounds perfect" she called back and he took a box of potato skins out of the freezer. He heard the toilet flush and Clare emerged from the bathroom a minute later. "Can you get me out a can of soda?"

"Of course" he said, getting a can of sprite out of the fridge and handing it to her. She took it and sat at the table while Eli prepared the food for the oven and put it in there. After setting the timer on the stove he joined Clare at the table. Clare had opened one of the baby name books and was looking through it.

"Why is this so hard?" she asked, partially to herself. "I mean, we're his parents, shouldn't naming him be easier than this?"

"You're thinking too hard about this" Eli said. "You're just stressing yourself out. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, the perfect name will come to us."

"But what if it doesn't? What if he's just nameless forever" Clare said and Eli smiled and took Clare's hand.

"I promise you he won't be nameless" Eli said.

"Well, have you thought of any names?" Clare asked. "I shouldn't be the only one naming him."

"To be honest I haven't really thought about it" Eli said and Clare glared at him.

"Are you serious?!" she said. "I'm sitting here stressing out about it and you haven't even thought about it?"

"Clare, relax. Things will be fine. We'll have our son and he'll have a name, don't worry" Eli told her. "Maybe it'll be easier when we actually see him and what he looks like." Clare sighed and put down the book and rubbed her eyes. Eli stood up and stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders and neck. Clare leaned back, resting the back of her head against Eli and closed her eyes.

"I just want everything to be perfect" Clare said. "I want this little guy to have the best life possible. I don't ever want him to want for anything or ever get hurt or sad." Eli smiled at her.

"Well that's not really possible. Clare, we're gonna give him the best life we can and love him unconditionally, but he's gonna fall down and scrape his knee, he might put something up his nose, he might even break a bone or have to get stitches, but that doesn't mean we're bad parents or that we failed him in any way" Eli assured her. Clare sighed. "And if he's anything like me, he's gonna be a bit of a handful."

"Just a bit?" Clare teased, smiling at him. He smiled back and took her hand, pulling her into a kiss as the timer on the oven beeped. "Yay, food's done. I'm starving." Eli smiled again and got up to get the food out of the oven and sat the hot cookie sheet on top of the stove.

"Your 4am snack is served" he said, bringing over two plates of potato skins and sitting back at the table with Clare.

Then sun had been up for hours now, but Clare continued to snore in bed. Eli had been up since 8, but it was now almost noon and Clare was still asleep. As the clock struck twelve, Eli walked into the bedroom to wake Clare. He hated doing it, she had had trouble sleeping for months and she looked so peaceful, but they had a baby doctor appointment at 1:30 and he didn't want to be late.

"Clare? Sweetie, wake up" Eli said, gently shaking her and she groaned, opening her eyes slightly to look at him. "Our appointment is in an hour and a half. I thought you'd like to get up and eat something before we go. You know how you get nauseas when you don't eat for too long." He was right. Ever since she became pregnant any empty stomach wasn't her friend. Reluctantly she sat up, swinging her feet over the side of the bed and placing them on the floor. It always took her a while to get up from a sitting or lying position. With Eli's help she slowly stood up, cradling her back with her hand as she did so. She made her way to their closet to get dressed.

"I hope he tells me I'm dilated at least a little" Clare said, looking through her closet for something comfy to wear.

"I guess we'll find out" Eli said. After Clare got dressed she and Eli went into the kitchen and Clare sat down at the kitchen table and Eli went to the fridge. "So, mother of my child and love of my life, what'll it be?"

"Just a sandwich for now" Clare said. "Ham and cheese?"

"You got it" Eli said, getting the stuff out of the fridge and the bread to make her sandwich. "So, what if the doctor tells you that you haven't dilated yet?"

"I'm gonna go crazy" Clare said in jest. "This baby is taking his good old time getting out of me." Eli brought Clare the sandwich and a glass of iced tea and sat them in front of her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome" Eli said and kissed her on top of the head. "While you eat I'm gonna check my email and do a couple things online."

"Okay" Clare said and Eli went into the living room where his laptop was. Clare began to eat and started to feel a dull cramp in her belly. She ignored it at first, thinking it would go away, that maybe it was just because she was hungry, but the cramping got worse. Before long it was almost unbearable. Could this be it? Was she finally in labor? "Eli" she called.

"Yeah" Eli called back from the living room and Clare cringed at another cramp.

"Uh…I think it's time" she said, trying to breathe like her birthing classes thought her to do.

"No, our appointment isn't until 1:30, we still have 40 minutes" Eli told her, coming into the kitchen and seeing her in distress. "Oh…OH, _time_. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure" Clare said.

"Oh god, okay" Eli said, looking around and trying not to panic. "Uh, let's go." He helped her up and into the living room. "I got your bag, the baby's bag…and the car seat." Grabbing everything and still trying to help Clare, he hurried her out of the house and to the car.

"Slow down, I'm huge, I can't walk that fast" Clare told him. "Don't freak out, just calm down and get me to the hospital." Eli helped her into the car and got into the driver's side, starting the car and driving toward the hospital.

"Are you okay?" he asked Clare, glancing at her and trying to keep his eyes on the road at the same time.

"Just in labor" Clare said, holding her stomach with her right hand and gripping Eli's hand with the other. Eli smiled and kissed her hand.

"We're gonna be parents, I can't believe we're gonna meet our son" Eli said, nervously excited.

"I know, I can't wait" Clare said, squeezing Eli's hand as another cramp hit her. "Drive faster please."

"I'm going as fast as I can without endangering the woman I love and my unborn child" Eli told her. As they got closer they began to see hospital signs. "We're almost there, babe."

A few minutes later Eli pulled into the hospital parking lot, parked and help Clare out of the car. They proceeded into the hospital and to the labor and delivery floor.

"Hi, can I help you?" the nurse behind the desk asked.

"Yeah, I'm kinda…having a baby here" Clare said

"Name?"

"Clare…Clare Edwards" Clare cringed in pain.

"How far along are you?" the nurse asked.

"Almost 39 weeks" Clare told her. The nurse typed some stuff into the computer and then printed out a hospital bracelet and put it on Clare's wrist.

"Have a seat and we'll be with you shortly" the nurse said.

"Excuse me?" Clare said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm having a baby, I don't have a cold or a cough."

"I know, we don't have any rooms at the moment, but will shortly. I'm going to page your doctor and I'll be with you as soon as I can" the nurse told her. Clare rolled her eyes in annoyance and Eli took her hand.

"Come on, babe" he said, directing her to a couple empty chairs and they sat down.

"I can't believe this. I'm in labor and they're making me wait in the waiting room?" Clare complained, cringing at yet another cramp.

"Just breathe, honey" Eli said, trying to calm her down.

"You breathe, I want a room where I can lay down, not to sit in these horribly uncomfortable chairs while it feels like I'm being ripped in half" Clare hissed. Her hormones were in over drive and she was beyond annoyed.

"Clare Edwards?" a nurse called and Eli stood up, helping up his girlfriend.

"That's me" Clare said.

"This way, I'll take you to your room now" the nurse said and Eli and Clare followed her down the hallway and into a birthing room. "The doctor is on his way up, he'll be here shortly."

"Thank you" Clare said as the nurse helped her into bed.

"You're welcome" the nurse smiled and left the room. Clare sighed deeply, trying to relax a little now that she was in a room and laying down.

"Are you nervous?" Eli asked, sitting next to her bed and grabbed her hand.

"A little, but more excited" Clare told him. Just then there was a knock at the door and Clare's doctor entered.

"Well, hello, Clare. Looks like we're having our appointment here instead of in my office, huh?" the doctor joked. "Let's see…" He put on a pair of latex gloves and examined Clare, frowning a bit.

"Is everything okay?" Clare asked. The doctor's look made her nervous.

"Well, you're not going to like to hear this, but it looks like what you're experiencing are Braxton Hick's contractions. It's the body's way of practicing for labor, which unfortunately you're not in yet." He removed the gloves and pulled the sheet back up over Clare's belly.

"Are you freakin kidding me? False labor?" Clare asked, a little angrily.

"Afraid so" the doctor said. "But I'll tell you what, your due date is in nine days. If you haven't gone into labor by your due date I'll induce you. You won't have to wait past your due date, okay?"

"Sure" Clare said. That didn't really make her feel better. She would still have to wait nine days and she wasn't happy about that. The doctor smiled at her and excused himself before leaving the room. Clare sighed, frustrated and got up to get dressed. "Braxton Hicks? Really?"

"It's gonna be okay, Clare. Either way we'll have a baby before the new month starts" Eli said, trying to look on the bright side, but that didn't change Clare's mood.

"Just take me home please" she said with a sigh. Eli kissed her forehead and they walked out of the hospital together to go back home.


End file.
